SPECT/CT fusion Imaging for the diagnosis of metastatic bone lesions in cancer patients

Objective:To evaluate the SPECT/CT fusion imaging in the diagnosis of benign and malignant bone lesions classified as indeterminate on SPECT alone of cancer patients.Methods:Eighty four bone lesions of 53 cancer patients,for whom the natures of the lesions were not able to be determined by the 99Tcm-MDP whole-body bone scan,were examined by the SPECT/CT fusion imaging simultaneously.All of the images were blindly interpreted independently by 2 physicians.In cases of discrepancy,consensus was obtained by a second joint reading.The natures of the lesions were eventually confirmed by pathology or other imaging examination or follow-up diagnosis six months later.Results:①Of 84 equivocal bone lesions on bone SPECT,34(40.5%) could be correlated with osteolysis and/or sclerotic metastases findings and 44(52.4%) could be correlated with benign findings on SPECT/CT accurately.Even after analysis of the SPECT/CT images,5 lesions(6.0%) remained indeterminate and 1 lesion was misdiagnosed.②The diagnostic accuracy of SPECT/CT for the 84 bone lesions was 92.9%,and the sensitivity,specificity,positive prediction value and negative prediction value were 94.4%,91.7%,89.5% and 95.7% respectively.Conclusion:SPECT/CT fusion imaging can effectively increase the diagnostic accuracy of metastatic bone lesions in tumor patients.